Harpoon Celtic Ale | Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Harpoon Celtic Ale features a deep amber color. The flavor is malty and complex. Celtic Ale has a moderate hop finish that, along with the generous amounts of malt, makes for a medium bodied, smooth, rich beer. Try serving Celtic Ale with a hearty stew… the beer’s robust character will complement the bold flavors.

Reviews by JohnnyMc:

More User Reviews:

Says on label its an Irish Red but mine seemed to be more copper,but anyways left hardly no head when poured.A little bit of clove or cinnamon in the smell also picked up some wood-likw smell.To me the taste had some smokiness to it,it was very malty sweet as well wich I liked.Nice mouthfeel cant drink to many of this style though kinda sits in my stomach.A pretty good American style Irish ale though.

A: Crystal clear coppery auburn color. White foamy head with decent retention and white lace all the way down the glass.

S: Caramel malt domintates the nose with additional hints of floral hops. There's more there too, sort of woody but faint, reminds me a bit of cedar.

T: The medium sweet malt comes through first but is tempered to even with the hops. There are enough hops to bring this to balance but I couldn't really pick out any hop flavors. Finishes fairly clean with little linger.

M&D: Mouthfeel is solid 'medium' weight with light but persistent carbonation. Smooth and easy to drink. I wish there were just a bit more character in the taste but this is very enjoyable just the same.

Appearance: A nice and clean looking rich red / amber beer. Head is a tad off-white with a creamy foam stick and excellent head retention.

Smell: Malty, fruity, estery with a soft hop aroma in the background.

Taste: Body is medium. Mouthfeel is smooth. Malt flavours are quite fruity, dark fruits, with an even semi-sugary sweetness. Touch of roasted flavour sits in the back with some bubble-gum-like and woody flavours. Carbonation is tight, zesty and creams-up on the palate. Grain flavours follow, then some esters and a slight touch of alcohol. Hop flavours are floral, tea-like, with a thin, soft character. Some leafy feel can be detected on the palate. Finish has some roasted notes to it.

Notes: Harpoon replaced their Spring Maibock with this beer. I put that aside. They come out with an "Irish-style red ale", which is so typical. I put that aside. What's left? In my opinion a damn fine ale. It's balanced. It's simple. It's easy to drink. It has appeal.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a mug. The bottle has a "best by" date of 04/15/10 printed on to the bottle and it was sampled on 2/11/10. There appears to be no abv info available on the label.

Appearance: Its body is deep amber in color and it shows very good clarity. A quick poor makes for a tall foamy head. It is off white to a very light tan in color and it slowly fades down to very thin filmy covering as I drink. Its lacing is minimal, spotty and slick.

Smell: The aroma fairly light with some hints at malt and light leafy hops as well as touch of something with mineral like edge.

Taste/Palate: There is mix of pale biscuity, dry white bready and sweet malt as the base flavor note. Hops add there balance of leafy and herbal flavor as well as some bitterness and dryness. The body has a medium feel with good carbonation and an easy drinking light but note too light texture.

Notes: Overall I would say that this is your basic/average Irish style Red Ale. It's not bad at all but it doesn't stand out either.

Pours a clear, dark, amber red with a nice frothy head that retains pretty well. Smell is very sweet and earthy. Kind of a tang to the aroma as well. Taste is more sweet malts but rather thin in the middle and finish. Slight bitter hop finish. Slightly metallic. Mouthfeel is thinner than I would like. Good carbonation, and slightly dry finish. Fairly drinkable but was kinda let down by this one.

Pours a clear, cherrywood, brownish-red body with a small, beige head that quickly falls flat. Some sticky patches of lace are left on the glass.

Aroma is restrained, and that's putting a good spin on it. Sweet, bready malt and some herbal hops are barely noticed.

Mouthfeel is pedestrian, with moderate carbonation and a light body.

Taste is above average, but unimpressive. Caramel and bready malts dominate, with a balancing, floral/herbal hops presence that provides enough bitterness to give this decent drinkability. Not one of the better Harpoon brews I've tried, but it's not bad, just average.

Pours reddish(suprise) amber, slight white head, clear and no lacing. Sort of nondescript beer for my liking. This is a semi sweet brew, I also pick up a little ginger or mint. This just too dull a brew for me. No real character, nor of much interest. My wife liked it, she said "'this is much better then all that crazy strong beer you like" What can I say I like crazy strong, flavorful beer with some character. I wont buy this red ale stuff again anytime soon.

The beer pours a clear, dark red color with a tan head. The aroma is heavy on the sweet malt, with some dark fruit thrown in. I get a ton of raisins and cherries in the aroma. The flavor is very similar, with a lot of sweet toffee and some light dark fruit. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. I am not a huge fan of this style of beer, but this one was better than most I have tried.

Received as part of the (weak) March shipment of my Beer of the Month club.

Serving glass: Poured from bottle into Nonic Imperial Pint.

Appearance: Reddish-brown, thin head with minimal lacing.

Smell: Caramel, sweet toasted malts, butter.

Taste: Semi-sweet toasted malts, caramel, minor hop taste, semi-dry finish. There is also somewhat of a cough syrup taste that is especially apparent in the aftertaste - this really hurt the score.

Feel: Medium carbonation and medium body, but feels a little watery.

Drinkability: Easy drinking but the aftertaste is a problem. I ended up bumping the drinkability up because I finished the beer with dinner, and the food stopped the aftertaste. I will drink the next one with a meal.

Smells thick and malty, and far more reminiscent of a good nut brown ale than an Irish Red: caramels and brown sugars dominate the nose, with strong hints of toasted grains just below.

On the tongue, sugars also win out initially, though are far less dark than the nose belies. Instead of dark malts the sugars are light: caramels, hints of maple syrup, dark honeys. Around mid-mouthful the sugars die off and reveal a complex grainy background, full of Grape Nuts cereal-like flavors, as well as biscuits and toasted wheat. Hops play a small presence here, adding just a hint of bitter fuzz. The aftertaste is a continuation of the toasted wheat flavors. Mouthfeel is light, only slightly more viscous than water.

Overall, this is a solid Irish Red, obviously made with care and good quality ingredients. It doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the style, but it is well-crafted and nicely balanced.

12oz bottle at fridge temp poured into a tulip glass. best before 06/15/12.

pours out a clear deep red, bronze color. somewhat a fizzy one fingers worth of head, off white, that settles eventually to a thin ring and patchy foam.

metallic biscuity, bready malt is mostly what i get in the aroma. fruit esters as well and maybe a touch of caramel.

follows the aroma. biscuit, bread crust with slight hint of toffee and metal. just enough citric, slight herbal hops to balance. and a little fruity esters as well.

some what of a sharp, crisp finish and a high amount of slightly bitey carbonation. slightly fuller side of light bodied. very good drinkability.

nothing to really get excited over, somewhat of a bland style. i could see this appealing to macro drinkers trying to convert, exspecially those who enjoy yuengling lager, almost the same beer with an ale yeast and maybe the slightest bit more body, but tis the season...

Well Harpoon has consistently underwhelmed me with almost all of their beers and I have to say this is no exception. First of all, I know this site has had some reconfiguring of the beer styles but there's no way this is a "pale ale/bitter." It's an Irish red ale and there is no mistaking it. It's also a pretty mediocre one, which is tough going because I have always found Irish reds to be a pretty mediocre style in general. While not as initially repugnant as Harpoon's ESB, this is still pretty unlikable. Malts have a nice base to them, and a twinge of smokiness is brought out by the hops, but there is a huge soap flavor that Harpoon's other beers have. It wrecks the beer, and since Irish reds are usually delicate and mild, the off flavor is overpowering. No more Harpoon for me please. I've heard they are currently kicking it up a notch and making more interesting beers (not that it means they will be better) but I probably won't try them unless the word is that they're truly kick ass. And they're free.

Pours a handsome clear garnet with a two finger dusky white head. Nice layer of lace sets up over the top.

Smells a little nutty with a distintive caramel background.

Very sweet up front with a big rush of diacetyl. Turns slightly more toffee like as I progress. Nutty in spurts. Slides to a nicely bitter finish with the modest hops coming to bat only at the tail end of the sip.

Mouthfeel is slightly drying with a nice full body. Carbonation is moderate.